escarmenar

Forms

escarmenar (first-person singular present escarmeno, first-person singular preterite escarmené, past participle escarmenado)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excarmināre, from ex- and carmino (“to card”).^[1][2][3][4] Corominas mentions it beside carmenar “to tease wool or hair”, the plain verb from the Latin verb, as another form of the same word; the Leonese dictionary of Le Men treats it as a derivative of that verb.^[5][6]

The same compound is Romanian scărmăna “to card”, Asturian escarmenar, Galician escarmear “to untangle wool” and Catalan escarmenar.^{[2][1][3][7][8]}

The Latin verb is formed from carmen (“card for wool or flax”), a word related to caro (“to card”).^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Alfonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario (1490), which explains Latin delanicare as escarmenar & cortar como cardar lana “to tease and cut, like carding wool”.^[10] Corominas dated the verb from the Quijote (1605).^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the verb was used for teasing wool, cotton and silk by hand, in Spain and in New Spain, where Sahagún counts it among the skills of a good spinner.^[10][11] Cervantes has Sancho search the saddlebag without leaving a lock of wool unteased, and the Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as untangling hair, wool or silk.^[10][12] Autoridades also recorded a vulgar figurative sense, punishing someone by fining him or taking his money.^[12] Alemany (1917) added swindling little by little and the mining sense of sorting ore from earth and rubble.^[13]

The sense “to comb out tangled hair” lives in the Canary Islands, Extremadura and Venezuela, and in Salamanca and León the verb also means to beat or punish.^[14][4][6]

Timeline

• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario uses it to explain Latin delanicare.^[10]
• 1495 – a translation of Gordonio's Lilio de medicina speaks of linen escarmenado for dressing a wound.^[10]
• 1571 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico City: escarmenar lana.^[11]
• 1605 – Cervantes uses it in the Quijote, the DCECH's first record.^[5][15]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives the figurative sense “to punish by fining”.^[12]
• 1900 – the Canarian variant descarmenar “to comb out hair” is recorded.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To tease or card wool or silk; the same as carmenar.^[4][16][1]
2. (mining) To sort the ore from the earth and rubble.^[4][16]
3. (Venezuela) To comb out tangled hair.^[4]
4. (rare) To punish a mischievous person by taking away money or other things he might misuse.^[4][16]
5. (rare) To swindle someone little by little.^[4]

Related words

• carmenar
• cardar
• Romanian scărmăna

Usage notes

In the Canary Islands the popular variant descarmenar is used beside escarmenar, which is the usual form at every level of speech.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. *excarmināre
3. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. excarminare
4. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. escarmenar
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 876
6. ^ a b Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. escarmenar
7. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. escarmenar
8. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. escarmenar
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. carminō
10. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. escarmenar
11. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. escarmenar
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 557
13. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 695
14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. escarmenar
15. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 485
16. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. escarmenar